Not long ago, if someone applying for a job in a law firm was emphasizing his "project management skills," he was probably applying for a litigation support or IT position. In the current economic climate threating traditional law firm models, however, project management skills can help differentiate attorney job seekers.
The author of recent post to the Fight the Hypo blog about finding a job as a non-traditional law graduate emphasizes her "complex project management" experience as an example of a non-legal skill "that a 24- or 25-year-old T20 law school grad lacks even if he goes to a "better" school than I do and as an evening student it's an important asset to leverage in your favor." Casebook Sherpa, Fall Recruiting and the Evening Student, Part 2: Selling Your Experience, Fight the Hypo, Aug. 6, 2009, at URL.
A review of David Galbenski's book Unbound in the Nashville Business Journal discusses the author's prediction that the legal market will become increasingly project oriented. It is a rather self-serving prediction given that the book's author is also CEO of legal staffing company Lumen Legal. That doesn't, however, mean he's wrong. I think he's correct and is a smart entrepreneur to capitalize on this trend.
A typical scenario within this new projectized environment is what Galbenski terms the "movie production" model, where:
a lead attorney would be called on to assemble a legal team to handle a case -- akin to a project or production manager hiring a crew for a movie or a concert tour.
"It may not be the resources underneath them at the law firm," Galbrenski says.
Business skills such as leadership and project management will become more highly prized in law, he says. And attorneys may do what many physicians have done -- set up more small group practices -- a movement he says is already taking place as top talent nationwide flees what they perceive to be a sinking ship of Big Law.
Jeannie Naujeck, Shifting strategies: Recession may have long-term effects on law firms, Nashville Business Journal, July 31, 2009, at URL, discussing David Galbenski, Unbound: How Entrepreneurship is Dramatically Transforming Legal Services Today (2009).
So does this mean passing the bar exam isn't the end of lawyers suffering through standardized tests? Should lawyers look to acquire a project management certification?
I'm not sure.
I think that law firms will find management experience desirable, but the legal community does not yet give project management standards and credentials their due. Having the PMP credential, for example, may be valued by potential employers because of the experience it is supposed to represent, but it is the experience they will value, not the certification. In other words, it is the job experience listed on your resume that recruiters care about, not the initials "PMP" or the words "Six Sigma Black Belt" on your name card.
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